We have come to understand that the day after American Thanksgiving is a day for buying things. Cheaply made mass produced goods are discounted down to a bare minimum price so that companies can move a ton of stock and "get into the black". People wait in line all night, push, shove, and even trample other people to get the best deals on... on what? Mass produced products that only a day before, the company was selling for twice as much. I often hear people say they got a "great deal" on Black Friday, but what manner of deal is it? The company isn't (likely) giving you a product for less than cost. They are still making a profit, or that wouldn't be getting into the black. They simply removing the extra padding from their prices that they have on the the other three hundred some-odd days a year. How is that a deal?

Craftspeople have often seen themselves in competition with mass production. They see coffee cups in a store for $15 and feel bad that they are selling one for $50. The truth is, these are not the same product, and cannot be compared. Makers set their prices based on their individual experience and costs, and more often than not, they have no padding on their prices. If a maker puts something on sale, it is usually to recoup material costs, and it is at the expense of their hourly rate. That is the part of the price that they live on, and buy food from, and pay rent with. If someone expected that at least one day a year you made half as much money as any other day, among the protests you would ask them a simple question: why?

I hold above all a belief that everyone is entitled to that which they have worked hard for. A sale undercuts the very nature of craftsmanship. By reducing our prices, we would be admitting to the world that our work is worth less than what we usually charge. Is that sweat on our backs worth less today than any other day? No. Of course it isn't.

In defiance of the degradation of product value, and in support of those who create for a living, I give you the anti-sale. I have increased all my prices by 50% for Black Friday weekend.

P.S. I'm from Edmonton, Alberta. Here, Black Friday refers to a very tragic day in our history. I lament that it is now used so frivolously to refer to a shallow consumerist "holiday". My deepest respect and sympathies to all who were affected by that dark day.